Hey, Faithfuls! I hope that you guys enjoyed my previous France road trip blog post because today I'll be writing about my Italy road trip and what we did while in Milan, Venice, Florence, and Rome. Italy was really spectacular, and out of the three countries I visited during my trip to Europe, I enjoyed Italian food the most. Yes, I'm gonna sound basic as hell, but the carbonara was superb. I had carbonara almost every day while I was there, and I didn't get sick of it.
Italy road trip itinerary
From Nice, France, we took two trains to get to Milan. Our first train was a one-hour ride from Nice Ville to Vintimille SNCF. From there, we took another train to Milano Centrale AKA Milan Central Station, which took another three hours.
We booked all our tickets online months before our road trip. It's easy to find train tickets online, and I personally feel that you can make your decision based on the prices. We booked our first train ticket on SNCF for ~S$8.65 (€6.20) and the second train ticket on Trenitalia for ~S$27.78 (€19.90).
Milan
Hotel in Milan
Residence De La Gare was quite gorgeous. It was huge! There were two bedrooms, a living room, and a common bathroom. While it looked quite grand, we could tell that the place was a little run down. There were some issues with the shower and the heating system, and the bathroom door wouldn't lock properly. Other than that, the hotel was pretty awesome.
Would've been funny if they were just trying to sell us toothpaste.
On another note, the food options around the area are quite decent, and we really enjoyed our dinner at this Italian restaurant, which was interestingly run by Asians! Well, I can't say for sure, but the food tasted authentic to me. How would I know, right?
What to do in Milan
When in Milan, it's a must to visit Cathedral Square and visit the Milan Cathedral that's standing there. Apparently, the gothic-style cathedral has more statues on it than any other building in the world, which I thought was pretty slay. The square has a lot of other interesting places to visit, including the Palazzo Reale, Galleria Di Vittorio Emanuele II, and Palazzo Arcivescovile.
We actually only spent one day in Milan city and spent the next day in Bellagio, a village at Lake Como. To go to Bellagio, we had to take a train from Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino, which cost ~S$9.59 (€6.80). From here, we followed the crowd to the ferry terminal and ticketing counter and took a 20-minute ferry ride to Bellagio.
Bellagio is freaking gorgeous. The first thing we did was order an Aperol Spritz and smoke a cigarette. I am not a smoker nor a social smoker, but seriously the view made me want to take a puff and feel like an old man.
I do not condone smoking, by the way. This was a moment of weakness.
There are a lot of things to do in Bellagio, including shopping and eating. Here, you can find a lot of handmade accessories and leather handbags. They're said to be a little more pricey than usual though since it's a touristy place. There are also gelato cafes everywhere. Just walk into anyone—they're all good.
When in Bellagio, be sure to find a fancy-looking restaurant overlooking the lake and just have lunch or dinner there. Sip some champagne and watch rich Italian men sunbathe in their yachts or ducks swimming in the water. It's just an experience you'll never get in Singapore, even if you go to Sentosa.
Venice
Hotel in Venice
It has always been a dream for me to visit Venice, especially with my significant other. So even though my friends weren't big on visiting Venice, I pushed super hard for it to be on the itinerary. To go to Venice from Milan, we took the train from Milano Centrale to Venezia Santa Lucia. It cost us ~S$27.78 (€19.90) and took about two hours.
Our accommodation was far from the station, about a 20-minute walk if you didn't take the boat. The place was called Master Venice Apartments, and it was more of an Airbnb, so let's call it that. Our host was very nice, and came to brief us about the place and explain to us how to use the stuff around the house.
The Airbnb had two separate rooms side by side, a living room, one bathroom, and a small attic. The attic also had a bed. This was one of my favourite places to stay in Italy because it was clean, spacious, and well-maintained.
What to do in Venice
Venice was really effing hot, and I could feel the sun once I stepped out of the station. Even though it was sunny as hell, the air wasn't humid, so I didn't feel sweaty. One thing about Venice is that it doesn't have a lot of shady pathways, so be sure to bring along a pair of good sunglasses.
Venice is incredibly touristy, and you can smell tourists in the air. The locals hate tourists, and it's apparent enough from the graffiti on the walls. Nevertheless, many locals' livelihoods depend on tourism, such as the uncles who offer to carry your luggage to your hotel via trolley carts. There are a lot of stairs in Venice, so if your hotel is more than a 10-minute walk away, it may be worth taking up their offer.
Alternatively, you can travel around by boat. There are two kinds of boat transportation here: public transport boats and taxi boats. The public transport kind costs ~S$10.58 (€7.50) for a 75-minute ticket, which means unlimited rides during that period. As for the taxi kind...well, I guess you can expect to pay from ~S$56.43 (€40).
There are lots of places to visit in Venice, from Piazza San Marco to the Grand Canal and Doge's Palace. We were lazy to look for all these places on our own, so we opted for a gondola ride so a tour guide could bring us instead.
We paid ~S$84.64 (€60) for a one-hour gondola ride tour, which brought us to see the Bridge Of Sighs, the Grand Canal, Basilica San Marco, and the Vivaldi House. I was stoked to see the Vivaldi House because I played so much of his music growing up.
After the gondola ride, we went to the Campanile Di San Marco to enjoy a bird's eye view of Venice. We paid ~S$9.87 (€7) to ride the lift up to the top. The views here were amazing, and if you come during the right time, you get to see the bell at the top being rung too. It's pretty damn loud, though.
Florence
Hotel in Florence
Florence was our next stop after Venice. It was definitely my favourite city in Italy. To go to Florence, we took the train from Venezia Santa Lucia to Firenze Santa Maria Novella. It's about a two-hour ride, and we paid ~S$164.63 (€116.80) for the four of us.
We stayed in an Airbnb called San Marco Apartment, which costs ~$250/night on Booking.com. The Two-bedroom Apartment had two large double beds in each room and a sofa bed in the living room. Our Airbnb host was a darling and prepared a little booklet with the names of famous spots and restaurants to visit. He also bore a striking resemblance to Denny Duquette from Grey's Anatomy.
The Airbnb was lovely, with the only downside being that it's just beside the road. Italian drivers are the absolute worst, and I'm saying this with no menace. Italians road rage so much, and the crazy honking and swearing begin at exactly 8am. Truly an Italian experience.
We also experienced an earthquake while we were in Florence. Apparently, it's not out of the ordinary for Florence to have earthquakes, and we were lucky that the earthquake was not serious. It just felt like a car rammed into our building at full speed. All of us were in the living room and were pretty shook when we felt it, so the boys went down to ask strangers what had happened. We felt another smaller earthquake after that, but it was almost unnoticeable.
What to do in Florence
There are so many things to do in Florence, and because we were lazy to plan everything ourselves, we decided to have a tour guide plan it for us. My boyfriend booked us an e-bike wine tour (~S$210.01/€149) with Florencetown, where we would cycle around Florence and explore the sights from 9am-3pm.
The tour was definitely expensive, but it was so much fun. We got to cycle out to the more hilly areas of Florence and also visited two different wineries. One was even over 100 years old. Super epic.
Some places we saw included the Duomo Di Firenze, Ponte Vecchio Bridge, and Santa Croce Church. We also spent some time at the Galleria Dell'Accademia Di Firenze, where Michaelangelo's David is at. An adult ticket costs ~S$28.19 (€20), and we had to queue for 90 minutes under the sun before we finally entered.
On our second day, we spend most of the day eating and shopping. So many people recommended we visit Trattoria Zà Zà Firenze, one of Florence's most famous restaurants. We loved this restaurant so much that we came back again the next day and ordered the same food. The carbonara is immaculate, and the cheesecake is life-changing. It's easier to get seats if you come in small groups.
Four of us also bought at least S$500 worth of leather goods in Florence, including bags, wallets, leather crafts, and pouches.
While I think Italy is generally safe, Florence seems to have a higher crime rate. We saw people getting scammed right in front of us, and my friend who came to Florence a month after us got her passport and wallet stolen. One common scam we saw was the one where guys would come to you with bracelets and try to put them on you. Once you've worn them, it'll be impossible to take off, and they will force you to pay for them. We saw even saw a couple with these bracelets on them, and they were talking to the police.
Florence is a beautiful place, so just be wary and keep your bags safe!
Rome
Hotel in Rome
Our last stop in Italy was Rome. From Firenze Santa Maria Novella, we took a train down to Roma Termini. The ticket cost ~S$46.37(€32.90)/person, and the train ride took about two hours.
We stayed in Aurelia Vatican Apartments, which is more like a hostel. We got the Quadruple Room With Balcony for ~S$153.63(€109)/night, which had two bunk beds. There was one bathroom in the room, and I'm not joking when I say the most spacious part of the room was the balcony. It was decent enough for a one-night stay, though! It was also about a 10-minute walk to the nearest metro station, which is Valle Aurelia.
What to do in Rome
I remember being a little grumpy in Rome because the sun was so damn hot. The air was cool, but the sun was basically scorching. I don't know how I survived Rome. There were also so many tourists, especially Chinese tourists. I almost felt like I was in China. I heard more Chinese being shouted into my ears instead of Italian. Freaking hell, man.
Rant over.
Rome wasn't built in a day, but we managed to visit almost all of it in one. We headed to all the touristy places, which included the Colosseum, Piazza Venezia, and Trevi Fountain.
We also managed to rush down to Vatican City. As a Catholic, I really wanted to visit Vatican City due to its religious significance. Here, you can visit the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Museums, and St. Peter's Square.
Apparently, having carbonara in Rome is a must, so we went to this famous restaurant called Tonnarello. The pasta here was delicious, but I couldn't stop thinking about the one we had at Zà Zà. Now that one was divine.
Italy road trip itinerary
I had so much fun in Italy. The people were so friendly, and the architecture here was just eye-opening. There's so much to see here, and I could feel how proud Italians are of their food, art, and culture. Italy does feel a little more dangerous compared to France, and I don't know how to explain it. Maybe it's because we went to the more touristy in Italy as compared to France. If I could come back again, I would skip Venice and Rome and spend more time exploring Milan and Florence.
Gotta stop talking about Italy now before I have major post-travel depression again.
Thanks for reading, and see you next post!
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12 comments
Italy is so beautiful;)
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Brilliant blog - thank you! How often do the trains go between cities per day? We have 3 weeks in Italy coming up and I'm now thinking of doing it this way but with more days per city.
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There is something special about Rome. I could visit this city every weekend and didn't get bored about it's beauty.
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Hi thks for the detailed sharing. How much does it cost for the entire Italy tour per pax for the 6 days?
ReplyDeleteHi, we did not join a tour, we did the planning for the activities and accommodation ourselves. We spent about $100 a day on food in Italy, about $60 on accommodation a day, and an additional $50 a day on activities.
DeleteNice Post
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing
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